Tommy and Laura in Sleepover at the Wolfman Lodge
Tommy punched the unicorn on the side of it’s face, rainbow colored blood spilling out of it’s mouth. Laura kicked it down, pressing her heel into it’s side as it coughed out it’s death throes. They were pretty good at this monster hunting thing now. The other unicorns scuttled off as they began to pick up the necks of the corpses of the dead unicorns. “What a bunch of assholes.” said Tommy. “I know right? Now we gotta lug all these corpses somewhere.” said Laura, sighing. The janitor jumped off from the red bench table outside, nailed to the concrete. “Or you could just do this.” he said, grabbing a bottle from the inside of his jacket. He spilled a bunch of red liquid on the unicorn and they disintegrated into red dust, disappearing in ice cold winds. “Woah dang, what’s that?” asked Laura. “It’s something that turns whatever soaks it up into that red dust. I find it handy for getting rid of monster corpses.” said the janitor. “I see that.” said Laura, walking over to the janitor. “Don’t be using this for human corpses or something illegal, alright?” the janitor passed the bottle to Laura. The air filled with red dust as the mess was cleaned up. Tommy and Laura headed to Tommy’s car and said their goodbyes to the janitor as they completed another day of duty as monster hunters. ---- “How’s your vampire girlfriend?” asked Tommy. “Andrée? I dunno, I think I hate her now.” said Laura. Tommy raised his eyes in interest. “How so? You two seemed to be love at first sight.” asked Tommy. Truth be told, he didn’t like Andrée either but he never seemed to like whoever Laura was dating. “I just… I dunno. It’s definitely me. I’ve dated a lot of guys but this was the first girl... and I just… I dunno.” she clumsily thought out. “She ever tried to drink your blood or what?” asked Tommy. “Nah, she respects me, maybe a bit too much. Again, I think it’s mostly me.” said Laura. Tommy was witnessing a rare moment of self awareness for Laura. For years, Tommy had known her as a girl who never made mistakes and aced life. “You guys ever…?” asked Tommy as the car lulled to a stop at the light. “Ever what? Have sex?” shot back Laura. “God, you can be such a prude sometimes…” “Well?” asked Tommy, watching the light as it stagnated on red. Her face turned as red as the stoplight. “You seriously want to know?” “Well, I mean… not in a perverted way…” Tommy said, getting embarrassed. Why the hell did he want to know? “Phh… you don’t need to know.” said Laura, turning away from him and staring at the window. Tommy stared straight ahead as the light turned green. Laura suddenly remembered something. “Oh shit. You know what I just realized? Jess had after school detention today.” said Laura. “So?” asked Tommy. “She saw it. The room has a window that has a view of the field. It’s not one of those small windows either. It’s a big window without blinds.” stated Laura. “Oh fuuuuck,” droned Tommy as he turned a left. “Were we supposed to keep this a secret or what?” “I was! What the fuck were you doing?” snapped Laura. “I told everybody!” said Tommy. “You dumbass! You told everybody?” Laura snapped again. “Well, none of them believed me but yeah. I told everyone I knew. I mean, if I was Spider-Man, I’d tell everyone. I’m not sure why he cares who knows…” said Tommy. “Because there are villains who would murder his family?” Laura said, itching to punch Tommy but she knew that she’d throw the car off the road if she did that. “Well… I mean… we can talk to Jess, right?” asked Tommy. “Just catch her before school begins.” “Man, you dumbass. What do you think this is? The 90’s when everyone didn’t have cellphones? Also, we have winter fucking break tomorrow.” asked Laura. “I don’t have Jess’ number. I know you don’t either.” “Ah jeez.” said Tommy as he pulled up into Laura’s neighborhood. “Fuck, everyone is gonna know by the end of winter break.” Laura said. “God damn it.” “Well, it can’t all be that bad…” said Tommy as he stopped the car. “It’s not like we’re bad at it.” “I guess you’re right…” groaned Laura. “I just haven’t been exactly having the best week.” “Well, that sucks,” said Tommy. “Hope you feel better over winter break.” Laura exited the car and waved goodbye as Tommy started up the car again and drove off. ---- Tommy sat on a white chair with wheels on the bottom, looking at the screen of the computer in front of him. Suddenly his cellphone buzzed and he took it out of his hoodie. Unknown Caller. “Hello?” he asked. “I’m inside the house,” said a raspy voice of a killer. Tommy’s eyes widened in fear. “Nah, just kidding. I don’t even know where your house is.” said a softer voice, of a teenage girl. “Jess?” asked Tommy, trying to recognize the voice. “Yeah. I… uh… saw what you and Laura did.” faintly said Jess deep in thought. “Oh,” said Tommy. “Did you tell everyone or…” “Well, I was but then I realized nobody was gonna believe me. I guess they would’ve thought I was high or some shit… can you just verify it happened or…?” asked Jess. “Look, Laura said that this was supposed to be a secret… wait, did you call the cops?” said Tommy, hearing police sirens in distance. “I saw the janitor so I assumed if he was part of it you probably weren’t doing anything illegal… I mean that was cool as shit, man.” said Jess. “Oh, thanks.” said Tommy, sitting back in the chair. “So, I mean, if you wanna keep a secret I guess I could just not tell anyone…” Jess said. “Thanks… it means a lot. Wait, how did you get my number?” asked Tommy. “Vicky told me it.” said Jess. “Oh yeah, her.” said Tommy, not wanting to remember her. “I dunno why I called…” said Jess, laughing. “I guess I just called you to let you know that I know what you did before winter break.” “Laura got pissed at me when she realized that you possibly saw it, so this is a good thing. Thanks.” said Tommy. “Why do you hang out with her anyway?” asked Jess. “Just wondering. I know she’s not your girlfriend so…” “We’ve been friends since elementary school.” said Tommy. “Yeah, but she treats you like such utter shit sometimes.” said Jess. “I don’t really see you guys but even I know you act like a total simp towards her.” It caught him off guard. “Simp?” asked Tommy. “Well, yeah.” said Jess. The phone buzzed again. It was Laura. "Look, I gotta take another call," said Tommy. Jess said nothing as Tommy hung up. "Hello?" "You got anything going on during Winter Break?" asked Laura. "Not really..." said Tommy. "Ok, well, I got a free stay to something called the Wolfman Lodge and I can bring a friend. You wanna go?" asked Laura. "Wolfman Lodge? Free stay out of the blue?" asked Tommy suspiciously. "Yeah, yeah, it sounds fishy as hell. That's why I want you to come." explained Laura. "What about Andrée?" asked Tommy. "I was planning to play video games over the break." "She can sneak in as a bat in a suitcase or something if she wants to come. But I need you there because if it's what I think it is then I'm gonna want my best friend coming." said Laura. "Alright, whatever. Hey, Jess called. She's agreed to keep it a secret." said Tommy. "Stop bullshitting me." said Laura, clearly sick of Tommy's shit. "No, really." said Tommy. "Why would she call you?" asked Laura. He shrugged. "I don't know." he replied. "The Wolfman visit is tomorrow, don't forget it." said Laura, hanging up. Tommy sat in the room alone. Simp. ---- Laura lugged her suitcase into the back of the car. “Is Andrée in there?” asked Tommy, wincing as it fell violently into the back. Laura shut the trunk. “Nah, she’s in the back seat of the car. Tommy noticed the girl suddenly, not realizing she had been sitting there until now. “How long has she been there?” Tommy asked. Laura simply headed towards the shotgun seat of the car, ignoring his question. Tommy headed up to the driver’s seat and put his hands on the wheel and then cranked the keys to start the car. He reversed out of the driveway and made his way onto the road. “Are you mad or something?” asked Tommy. “No, I just… god… damn it,” said Laura, losing her train of thought again. “Why did Jess call you anyway?” “Jess? I dunno.” said Tommy in three words that told Laura nothing. “You don’t even really remember Jess, do you?” asked Laura. “Jess is the red haired asian right?” said Tommy. “Yeah. She got two holes in her neck now.” said Laura. “Surprised it hasn’t caught on as a trend.” groaned Tommy. “Oh man, remember that time when Jess had to wear that eyepatch for a week and like everyone started wearing one like an idiot?” laughed Laura. “Didn’t you wear one on the day she took it off?” asked Tommy. Laura’s smile faded. “Focus on the road.” “Hey, it wasn’t a slight against you. You pulled off the look, honestly.” said Tommy without hesitation. Laura stayed silent, turning towards the window. Tommy looked straight ahead. ---- They arrived a hour later. The Wolfman Lodge was located off a mountain road, high enough to be already receiving snow. Andrée transformed into a bat and flew in a compartment in Laura’s suitcase before the two headed in, walking through a gold colored revolving door. It was extremely warm inside, with two fireplaces visible on the left and right of the welcome desk. A man with brown hair and a clean shaven face welcomed them in as Laura showed them the room passes. “You hear about that blood red supermoon tonight?” asked the man. “Oh I sure have!” said Laura in a nearly breathless manner, giving Tommy an aside glance. Tommy gave her an uncertain glance back, grabbing his suitcase and following Laura as she stepped away with two room keys. Tommy stepped forward to the elevator. “Please tell me you didn’t just pack your suitcase with clothes and your girlfriend.” Laura shot him a deadly look. She didn’t. “I asked the janitor for some gold weapons once I figured out the Wolfman Lodge’s name. He dumped them off in like three hours.” explained Laura. She unzipped a part of the suitcase and Tommy could see the glistening glow of gold swords and bullets inside. “Something feels off about this. If this was a werewolf resort, why would they not check for this shit if they invited what they presume or know is two monster hunters?” asked Tommy. “Sometimes life’s that easy. Although it does seem like a lot of things have just been passed to us lately…” pondered Laura. She thought for a couple more seconds. “When is this elevator getting to the fifth floor?” The elevator doors opened shortly and Laura stepped forward into the hall. “I wonder if this is like some stupid twist where it’s a ghost or some dumb shit like that instead of a werewolf. You know that kind of twist that plays on audience expectations and twists that for something they didn’t come here to read or watch? There’s no dragons in There Will Be Dragons, y’know?” “There isn’t?” asked Tommy sincerely. “No.” shot Laura. She hit a vase, expecting a little ghost to come flying out but all that happened was that it toppled over and broke. “Whatever. I guess if there’s no ghost, there’s no ghost.” disappointedly said Laura. She walked over to room 505 and swiped the card across a black port and green light flickered. She grasped the handle and opened up the room. Two beds and a couch. There was a door for a bathroom and a pair of televisions sat to right and left of the main room on a chest of drawers. A kitchen island with a oven, sink, and dishwasher surrounding it sat to the left of the room. Laura set her suitcase down and let Andrée out, who flew over to the couch and morphed back into a human-like form. Laura closed the blinds of the big window at the end of the main room. “This is nicer than I expected, honestly. What do we do now?” asked Tommy. “Wait for the big red moon I guess. That should be fun.” said Laura, sitting next to Andrée on the red couch and flicking on the TV. Tommy set his suitcase over to the side of the bed farthest from the couch. “Have fun with that I guess, I’m gonna see what I can dig up about this.” he stated. Laura and Andrée ignored him as he opened up the door, room card in hand. ---- He crept against the walls of the lodge, the cheap red wallpaper against his hands as he watched for any employees. He then made his way to the elevator, heading to ground floor. He looked at the pattern of the carpet a lot closely, seeing a wolf’s head repeated in tiles in the fabric. Maybe it was just his head though. He kept his cool and noticed the front desk conspicuously empty. Behind the desk was no help though, just room numbers of guests and room keys. He looked for anything lupine-related but he didn’t find anything aside from the potted Lupinus flowers on the top of the desk. The only question then was why were they invited here? And why was only Laura invited? Nothing was adding up. He stepped away from the front desk and made his way over to a chair. He attempted to call Laura, but no signal. “Do you need help with anything?” said a man. “Nah, no thanks.” said Tommy. “People keep thinking this is werewolves meet. Isn’t that so weird?” said the man. Suddenly something sparked in Tommy’s head. “What kind of people?” asked Tommy. “Not hairy men. Just Twilight-obsessed freaks.” stated the man. “Oh...” said Tommy. “Look… me and a friend were invited here and we’re-” He was about to say it but remembered Laura’s words. “We’re what?” asked the man. “Friends.” said Tommy. “Well, just let me know if you need anything!” said the man. Tommy got up from the chair and although nothing was cleared up and he was still confused as ever, he resigned from searching for the answers. ---- Tommy entered the room and heard the distant sound of a shower. Andrée was still on the couch, watching TV. “Laura’s taking a shower.” said Andrée. “Yeah, I figured that,” said Tommy. “What’s the deal with Laura lately?” “What?” asked Andrée. “She seems mad and lost. You not picking that up?” asked Tommy, taking a seat on the other side of the couch. “Oh, you mean that? Yeah, I’ve noticed during some of the fights we’ve had lately.” said Andrée. “About what?” asked Tommy. “I dunno, she wants me to leave lately and then she keeps switching her decision on that. She says it’s too soon to live together or something like that, which I guess makes sense but I don’t have anywhere to go.” said Andrée. “You ever been to school before now?” asked Tommy. “Nah…it’s been kind of a challenge but I think I’m getting a hang of this whole numbers thing,” said Andrée, smiling. “What’s the deal with you and Laura?” “What do you mean by that?” asked Tommy. “She never talks about you.” said Andrée. “We’ve been friends since elementary school and we’ve just kind of stuck like that.” said Tommy. “How long is that?” asked Andrée. “I dunno… it’s a pretty long time though. We’re basically each other’s only real friends. I mean sure, we have girlfriends and boyfriends, but they’re not really part of the circle, you know?” asked Tommy, laying back. “I like her,” said Andrée. “But I don’t think she likes me.” “Same,” said Tommy. “I’m always barked at to do something and she never wants to do anything I want to do...” “Never?” asked Andrée. “Well, I mean we’ve done some stuff I want to do but I dunno, I never feel like she has to make a choice that doesn’t also benefit her.” replied Tommy. “You know she’s in the other room, right?” "Who cares? I'd say it to her face. It's something I'm gonna be honest about." said Tommy. The shower stopped and a minute Laura came out with a different outfit on and wet hair. "You gonna say it to her face now?" asked Andrée. Tommy didn't. ----“When is the moon coming out?” asked a bored Laura peeking through the blinds. Tommy and Andrée shrugged. Laura sighed and laid down on the floor. “You know what? Let’s spill a secret out.” said Andrée, looking at Tommy. “Fuck that, I ain’t doing that with you two in the room.” said Laura, laying on the floor. “Come on, it could be fun… look I’ll start,” said Andrée. Laura sat up in interest. “I haven’t told anyone this but honestly sometimes I wish I wasn’t a vampire.” “Why would you wish that though?” asked Tommy. “Sometimes I see pictures of the world when the sun’s out and I’d like to see it in person sometime, you know? There’s a lot of don’ts in the life of a vampire, a lot of them being a biological component.” explained Andrée. “Yeah, but you wouldn’t be able to turn into a bat or do crazy vampire shit.” said Tommy. “I don’t really care about that though,” said Andrée. “When I look at what I’ve lost from being born into this race, I don’t know what I lost and I’ll never know what I lost.” “Can’t you cure vampirism though?” asked Tommy. “Not if you’re born into it. I’ve asked Andrée about this before.” said Laura. “Yeah. I dunno, I just felt like I needed to get that off my back.” said Andrée. “Since Tommy was wondering this earlier, yes.” said Laura. “Yes what?” asked Tommy, before realizing what it was. “Oh.” “Not that it should come as a surprise to you though.” said Laura. “I figured you guessed the answer already by the color of my face when you asked it.” “Right. Look, I’ve got some stuff I need to say about the way you’ve been treating me-” said Tommy, but then suddenly a wolf-like bellow sounded in the distance. Howls soon followed it and Laura opened up the blinds to reveal a big red moon. She unpacked the suitcase and grabbed the gold weapons. “I’m guessing these are super werewolfs judging by how much of the moon’s light is gonna be out tonight. I’m also guessing that the red moon gives them additional powers or something.” “Are you making this up?” asked Tommy. “Yeah,” admitted Laura, tossing him a revolver loaded with gold bullets. “Stay here Andrée.” Tommy caught the revolver and smashed the window, sliding down the roof. Laura quickly followed behind, firing off two pistols as two of the werewolves slammed into the tiles of the lodge and rolled forward to the ledge. The bodies hit the ground five stories below. “What are they doing, exactly?” asked Tommy. Laura shrugged. “I guess something bad. I dunno, maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to leave Andrée in the room but she can hide pretty well and hold her own so…” said Laura. “Look, I was about to say something about the way you’ve been treating me and then this happened but-” suddenly Tommy slammed into a chimney as Laura continued to slide down, firing the pistols. Tommy hunched over, in shock as the pain flooded his body. He groaned as he got up and rolled down the roof. ---- Laura slammed a werewolf’s head with golden brass knuckles and grabbed the pistol and pressed it against his head. “What were you planning to do tonight?” she asked. “Well, seeing as this is a super blood moon night, we figured we would attack some major cities or something… like St. Louis.” said the werewolf. “St. Louis? Major city? Fuck, you guys are behind the times.” said Laura. “Isn’t the railroad still popular?” asked the werewolf. “Nah.” said Laura as she shot the werewolf in the head, killing it. Tommy slammed into the ground, groaning as he got up. “They were gonna do something bad, right?” he asked, shrugging off the pain. “Yeah. We’ve been over this time and time again. Monsters aren’t people.” said Laura. “I don’t get why you’re dating one then!” expressed Tommy. “Well, as you’ve probably heard, it hasn’t worked out so great.” shot back Laura. “Still, we both consider her a friend! I don’t get why it’s okay for you to make exceptions!” shouted Tommy. “Oh what, did you make a werewolf friend? I don’t see him.” said Laura as a werewolf lunged at her from behind, dropping dead as Laura shot him without flinching. “What if I did then? Would you put the morality of that situation into question?” asked Tommy. “What would you get you to stop and think about stuff for a minute instead of blindly charging into it?” “We were given a mission, Tommy. To be monster hunters. We can’t be doing that if you’re constantly asking if the lions that are actively killing the zebras are the good guys.” screamed Laura. “I’m so sick of your shit!” screamed Tommy as he lobbed off the head of a werewolf. “You never respect anything I want to do, the fact I’m even here is a testament to that!” “Oh what, it’s my fault you don’t veto?” asked Laura. “I do it out of respect to you!” shouted Tommy, his eyes welling up. “Just for once I’d wish you would do the same.” “Is that how you really feel about it?” asked Laura. “Look, this trip has kind of exemplified that but it’s not a one-time occurrence. I feel like you always do this.” said Tommy. “You haven’t exactly thrown out suggestions beyond staying home though.” said Laura. “So? I feel like if I had just a little more input into stuff like this…” Tommy said, breathing heavy. “I wouldn’t be feeling like this.” “I’m sorry.” apologized Laura. “For real? You’re not saying to just get me off your back?” asked Tommy. “I really am. I don’t think I’ve noticed how I’ve been treating you and I... fucked up on that.“ said Laura. She gave Tommy a quick hug and then jumped to the side as a werewolf hit the ground in the spot they had previously been. Distant howls of retreat sounded as Tommy and Laura separated. “Thanks.” said Tommy. “We should probably check on Andrée.” said Laura. ---- Tommy pulled up to Laura’s driveway, dropping the two off. Laura then stopped Andrée. “This isn’t going to work out. We both know it.” said Laura. “You can’t just kick me out though,” said Andrée. “Where am I going to go?” “I sold some of the gold weapons online and got you an apartment. I should be able to support you for about two years.” “You cleared this out with Tommy, right?” asked Andrée, glancing at Tommy sitting in the driver’s seat. He nodded his head up and down. Laura hugged Andrée as she got back in the car with Tommy and headed to the apartment. “I still wonder why Laura was invited to the Lodge…” asked Tommy to himself. ---- Michael stumbled in the dark as he made his way to the hoofed being. “I trust that you’ve found ways for them to rack up souls?” asked the deep voice. It laughed and foul air stenched up the room. Michael merely nodded. A pulsating, skinless hand touched his shoulder and while Michael was visibly disgusted, he made no other note of it. “The Mither of the Sea can’t keep me captive for much longer!” roared the voice. Michael could only nod. Category:Tommy and Laura Category:Short Stories Category:Stories Category:Writings